PC, tablet, smartphone shortages may hit in June

For consumers in the West the news of the Japanese earthquake had us all worried about the people there, and being charitable to help them out. But beyond that, we have yet to really experience any repercussions from the natural disaster. Come June those repercussions look likely to hit the tech sector and the gadgets we buy.

DigiTimes is reporting that component manufacturers are on the brink of running out of stocks for key components. This is down to the problems the earthquake caused such as destroying ports, taking manufacturing plants offline, or making it impossible to get materials to certain areas of the country by any transportation means available.There’s also a compounding problem because manufacturing in China is being hit due to a shortage of labor.

The components most likely to be affected include MLCC (used in integrated circuits), motherboards, and the glass used for touchscreens. If such shortages start to appear then shipments of PCs, tablets, and smartphones will be forced to slowdown.

The issue stems from growing demand for devices such as tablets and smartphones. As the big brands continue to market and rollout new devices so the demand goes up. This increased demand coupled with difficulties in the supply chain ultimately leads to shortages. The breaking point is expected to be June onwards as supplies are going out as usual this month.

Manufacturers are denying there is a shortage coming, but this is thought to be a tactic to stop panic and keep component prices steady. Companies including Asus, Acer, Motorola, HTC, Quanta, and of course Apple, are believed to be buying as much stock as they can to weather the storm.

The impact for the consumer may be two-fold. While products won’t disappear from store shelves suddenly, the stock coming in will be limited meaning some outlets may run out for days at a time. Longer term, vendors may be forced to put prices up because if a shortage does happen then components will automatically get more expensive to buy. Ultimately that cost will get passed on to the end user.

Come the holiday season this year we might all be buying more expensive gadgets, or having to choose different models because the one we want has become unavailable.